Boehner has gone from confidently touting his and his fellow House Republicans' upcoming leadership on the issue of immigration, to now doing nothing more than groveling for Obama to solve the problem using his executive authority -- which is an ironic enough stance for a Republican to take, these days.

Time, though, does not care for walls and fences. If there is something permanent in human history, it is the movement from one place to another. Foreigners. Refugees. Great Migrations. From Africa to Europe. From Asia to America. From Europe to America. From Asia and Africa to Europe.

Border Patrol forces, still growing, have more than doubled in the years since 9/11. As the new uniformed soldiers of the Department of Homeland Security, close to 20,000 Border Patrol agents now occupy the U.S. Southwest.